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biographical

An architect's archive can form a major source for biographical information. The personality and outlook, beliefs, theories and ideals of an architect will often be documented in letters, notes, memoirs and diaries, records that may provide a personal day-to-day account and intimate perspective on their life and work. This is where the Manuscripts Collection can provide a unique insight into an individual, in ways which published works may never do.

In some cases an architect's archive is comprehensive enough to provide substantial biographical information, but it is usual for biographical information on one architect to be found in the papers of other architects and organisations. Letters, for example, usually end up in the archive of the recipient rather than the author. An individual may be the subject of essays and articles by another, particularly an architectural historian. Examples include comprehensive research notes on Nicholas Hawksmoor (1661-1736) by J.H.V. Davies, papers relating to the Victorian architect and editor James Knowles (1806-1884) by Priscilla Metcalf and texts by one of the foremost architectural historians, Sir John Summerson, on John Nash (1752-1835), John Thorpe (c. 1565-1655) and Inigo Jones (1573-1652).

Anecdote by Jane Drew on Ben Nicholson, no date

Diaries are often a particularly personal record and many examples in the Collection are very detailed. The 52 diaries by the prolific architect Sir Thomas Rickman (1776-1841) are full of small, dense handwriting recording his daily life and work, with barely a gap in the text from one day to the next. They also contain daily weather reports, carefully recorded on the bottom of every page. One of the most magnificent sets of diaries in the Collection is that of C.R. Cockerell, an authority on ancient greek architecture and a well-respected archaeologist. He kept detailed diaries from 1823 until 1831, and they are a full record of his day-to-day activities. He wrote about architectural, archaeological, scientific and cultural issues and included descriptions and observations on buildings and archaeological sites that he visited.

There are a number of memoirs and drafts of autobiographies (published and unpublished) in the Collection. These include records by William Peacock (1779-1849), Peter Moro (1911-1998), Edward Playne on his partner Grey Wornum (1888-1957), Jane Drew (1911-1996) and Maxwell Fry (1899-1987). There is also an heirloom copy of the memoirs of the Wren family, compiled by Christopher Wren, son of Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) and published by Stephen Wren in 1750. It contains interleaved original manuscript material, dating from 1634 to 1751. The memoirs of Fry and Drew, architects of the modern movement who worked in partnership for over 30 years, provide anecdotes on friends and colleagues such as Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) and Le Corbusier (1887-1965). They also describe works in Africa and India, the role of architects during the the Second World War and personal philosophies and perspectives on projects such as the Festival of Britain and city of Chandigarh, the capital of the Punjab, India.

Letters are often as detailed a biographical source as diaries. This is nowhere more effectively illustrated than with the correspondence between Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) and his wife, Lady Emily. The 4,463 letters provide a virtual autobiography of Lutyens. He writes in a very personal and entertaining way about his life and work, his clients, colleagues and acquiaintances. The letters provide a unique insight into one of the greatest English architects and they are also delightfully illustrated with sketches of people, buildings and landscapes.

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